Nature, smells, and human wellbeing
File(s)Nature, smells, and human wellbeing.pdf (933.97 KB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The link between nature and human wellbeing is well established. However, few studies go beyond considering the visual and auditory underpinnings of this relationship, even though engaging with nature is a multisensory experience. While research linking smell to wellbeing exists, it focuses predominantly on smells as a source of nuisance/offence. Smells clearly have a prominent influence, but a significant knowledge gap remains in the nexus of nature, smell, and wellbeing. Here, we examine how smells experienced in woodlands contribute to wellbeing across four seasons. We show that smells are associated with multiple wellbeing domains, both positively and negatively. They are linked to memories, and specific ecological characteristics and processes over space/time. By making the link between the spatiotemporal variability in biodiversity and wellbeing explicit, we unearth a new line of enquiry. Overall, the multisensory experience must be considered by researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and planners looking to improve wellbeing through nature.
Date Issued
2023-01-01
Date Acceptance
2022-06-17
Citation
Ambio, 2023, 52 (1), pp.1-14
ISSN
0044-7447
Publisher
Springer
Start Page
1
End Page
14
Journal / Book Title
Ambio
Volume
52
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35849312
PII: 10.1007/s13280-022-01760-w
Subjects
Biodiversity
Forests
Happiness
Humans
Smell
Environment
Green space
Memory
Olfactory
Sensory
Woodlands
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Sweden
Date Publish Online
2022-07-18